JEFF PRESTRIDGE: Why is it so difficult to get our pensions in one place?

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Nothing is straightforward when it comes to pensions. Complexity rules.
It's one of the reasons more than 40 per cent of working age people are not saving enough for retirement.
Many just don't understand the myriad rules governing pension contributions, permitted tax breaks and how funds at retirement can be turned into hard cash.
As a result, they desist from long-term saving when they should be embracing it.
This complexity extends to when people attempt to put their pension affairs in good order.
Long gone are the days when people retired after working all their life for one employer. Now, unlike our parents who had one works pension to see them through retirement, we have a mishmash of pensions – some good, others not fit for purpose. Some we may have forgotten about or struggle to track down.
Research by financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown shows more than one in five people have lost track of pensions accumulated over a lifetime of work.
To address this, consumer groups have repeatedly called for the setting up of an online dashboard, allowing people to see in one place key details on all of the pension plans they have accumulated over their working life.
Such a dashboard would be a game-changer, allowing people to piece together their pension jigsaw – and enable them to make better choices when saving and at the point of retirement.
Yet despite promises by previous governments to get it off the ground, it has yet to see the light of day. Although a quango called the Pensions Dashboards Programme has been tasked with delivering the scheme, the project trundles on at a snail's pace.
Pensions minister Emma Reynolds says the Government is committed to getting a dashboard over the line. But I doubt it will be fully operational before the next General Election in 2029.
In light of such slow progress, Labour should listen to those calling for new rules governing pension switches.
Pension switching and consolidation of plans makes great sense for many savers, giving them greater control over their long-term finances and the opportunity to benefit from lower fund fees.
It's not for everyone. Some older pensions can include valuable benefits that would be lost if transferred to another provider. Yet overall, it is good for consumers and should be hiccup-free.
Sadly, it isn't. Many providers make life difficult for want-away customers by dragging out transfers over many weeks and sometimes months. Scandalous.
PensionBee, a relatively new pension kid on the block, wants the Government to introduce a ten-day pension switching guarantee, backed by law.
It would be similar to the seven-day current account switching service (CASS) launched 12 years ago to stop banks dilly-dallying on account transfer requests. CASS's data indicates that of the 11.9 million current account switches completed since 2013, 99.6 per cent have been within the required seven working days.
PensionBee's Lisa Picardo says pension switching delays 'have real opportunity costs – hampering engagement, costing people real money, limiting their choices and undermining trust in the whole pensions system'.
To prompt change, PensionBee has set up a petition calling for 'faster, electronic pension transfers'. Bafflingly, there's no specific mention of the ten-day switching guarantee, nor the compensation savers should (must) get if the guarantee is breached.
And the petition's title – 'legislate to mandate offer of electronic pension transfers and higher standards' – reads like it has been dreamt up by an actuary who has spent too much time immersed in the complexities of pensions.
I can only assume there is method in the madness. As I said at the start, nothing is straightforward when it comes to pensions. Find the petition at petition.parliament.uk/petitions/731994.
Cashless tills have invaded our shops
Paying for goods with cash at a supermarket should be a given. But many stores are rapidly turning invasive self-checkout services into near cashless zones. Think 1963 horror film The Day Of The Triffids, about an invasion of carnivorous plants.
For example, at Marks & Spencer's store at London Paddington (the railway station I commute into and from five days a week), there are only a handful among the phalanx of self-checkout terminals that now accept cash.
Debra Morrison, chief executive of charity CLASP, based in my home town of Wokingham in Berkshire, is a passionate advocate for cash.
CLASP provides invaluable support to people with learning difficulties, encouraging them to express themselves, participate in a wide range of events, and live more independently. Its work is enlightening.
Debra says cash is vital for most CLASP members who need to budget carefully and don't use credit and debit cards. It is also key for the elderly and others who eschew other payment methods.
Debra is backing an petition – find it online at chng.it/Q8x5CTnCCZ – calling for an end to the discrimination of cash users at self-service checkouts.
Financial inclusion is an imperative. I urge you to sign the petition.
Shame on Barclays for axeing ANOTHER service
I hadn't heard of Barclays' 'sterling home service' until a neighbour of my partner mentioned it a few days ago. The service, introduced during the 2020 lockdown, enables people to order cash and have it delivered to their home rather than trundle off in search of a cash machine or a Barclays branch still open (good luck there).
It has been a godsend for Edna who was 90 a couple of weeks ago and is not as mobile as she once was. It has enabled her to pay cash for at-home care, food deliveries and other needs besides.
Sadly for Edna and other elderly people, Barclays is withdrawing the service on October 9.
It says it was only meant to be temporary – and given it is now only used by a 'very small number of customers' (its words, not mine), it must be given the chop.
The bank says the Ednas of this world can still get cash in other ways: via an ATM, getting cashback at a retailer or by asking for an 'authorised user' to be added to their account who can get cash out for them.
Interestingly, it didn't mention the other option: withdrawing cash over the counter at a local Barclays branch. I draw two conclusions from this.
Either Barclays feels it has shut so many branches (1,236 since 2015) that such an option is not worth mentioning. In Edna's case, the local Barclays in Wokingham, Berkshire, shut two years ago – and is now an ugly, empty shell. Or, that the days of permitted big cash withdrawals over the counter at Barclays' branches are drawing to an end.
PS: There is worrying evidence that banks and retailers are turning their backs on cheques. If you have had difficulties banking a cheque or making a payment by cheque, email me at [e-mail]